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Belkin Begins Releasing OpenWRT Code For The WRT1900AC

04-04-2014, 10:10 AM

Phoronix: Belkin Begins Releasing OpenWRT Code For The WRT1900AC

A few months ago we wrote about Linksys Reviving The WRT54G Router In 802.11AC Form. Belkin, which owns Linksys, has begun releasing code for this new router -- the WRT1900AC -- but with this early code is still some glaring problems...

Assuming that they're working on opening the wireless driver (as implied in the article), then the rest of the issues seem like they can probably be taken care of over time. I'm not in need of a router at the moment, but Linksys might find a new customer when my current one dies (hopefully not soon).

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This device literally has not a single thing in common or related to the old wrt54g. Quit saying things like it being "the successor". It is NOT. It is in no way related AT ALL.

Also, I really don't see the appeal, given the PRICE of the damned thing (seriously $300??!?!? Gimme a break!). Yes, some of the specs are nice... for a router. But not for a low end **LAPTOP**, or even an *old* laptop (free), which have the advantage of having a built-in UPS. The rotten thing, is that the price isn't going to come down to where it belongs (<$100) until AFTER other (cheap ~$50) routers exceed it in specs.

Now as far as the "openwrt" end of things goes, what they are doing is essentially DROPPING SUPPORT on LAUNCH DAY. Ship it with openwrt, and openwrt will support it from here on out. Save money while simultaneously adding hacker appeal, makes sense and helpful, but their REASON for it is less than honorable.

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I'd be much more interested in whatever Buffalo puts out next. They aren't stellar on it, but they do usually produce a good hackable router every generation and they don't try to create a ridiculous hype train around it.

Their AC products have been very disappointing so far, all using obviously proprietary BRCM chips, but hopefully they start shipping Atheros hardware with 32MB+ of flash soon. I have an N300 with all kinds of stuff on my openwrt install, like Asterisk, SMB and FTP servers for my NAS, and it has pretty good range. My router before them was a TP-Link model that had way too little ROM (like 8M).

This thing has 128M of ROM though, so I'd be interested what you could cram on that much space.

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Really, Linksys changed hands again? Sigh. Here I thought I could forget the name "Linksys" in favour of "Cisco", as I forgot "ATI" for "AMD". But now it's Belkin...

As for the issues, that's just companies used to proprietary software finally getting QA in the form of the stringent FOSS code submission rules. Nothing too unusual (just once again goes to show just how badly written some closed-source software can really be, just think about what is happening in ARM land under the hood...).

Comment

Really, Linksys changed hands again? Sigh. Here I thought I could forget the name "Linksys" in favour of "Cisco", as I forgot "ATI" for "AMD". But now it's Belkin...

As for the issues, that's just companies used to proprietary software finally getting QA in the form of the stringent FOSS code submission rules. Nothing too unusual (just once again goes to show just how badly written some closed-source software can really be, just think about what is happening in ARM land under the hood...).

So look what happens when some closed-source code gets opened and the stricter rules of FOSS code quality get applied.

Even M$ has gotten some strong criticism over even their Dot Not codebase already

Comment

Fantastic news, but Belkin has to provide a fully open stack of course. The hardware on this router is simply stunning, it provides a very powerful router to expand OpenWrt into usage scenarios that are not very common today. Actually, the hardware specs of this router differs so much from the other offerings on the market that it necessitates format changes for the table of hardware on the openwrt wiki.

Comment

Yes, some of the specs are nice... for a router. But not for a low end **LAPTOP**, or even an *old* laptop (free), which have the advantage of having a built-in UPS. The rotten thing, is that the price isn't going to come down to where it belongs (<$100) until AFTER other (cheap ~$50) routers exceed it in specs.

OK you lost me on that, are you implying to use an old laptop as a router or AP? If so, there is a TON of reasons why a router is a far better option.